Tomahawk Steak from Porterhouse Meat Market

Faith had other evening plans. It’s been a long week and the year is about to wrap up. I think I deserve a little something special for dinner. Porterhouse Meat Market had some great choices in their fresh cuts. My job has taken me all over the country and the world. I’ve eaten some amazing steaks, but I’ve never had a Tomahawk steak in my entire life. Tonight is going to be the night I prepare one and eat it.

What is a Tomahawk steak?

A Tomahawk steak is a ribeye steak known for its long rib bone, left intact and frenched (trimmed of meat and fat) to resemble a single-handed axe or tomahawk. The long bone, usually around 6 to 8 inches, adds a dramatic presentation to the steak and makes it stand out. The Frenching of the bone involves removing the excess fat and meat, exposing the bone for a cleaner, more visually appealing look.

The Tomahawk steak is essentially a giant ribeye, which is ideal for marbling and tenderness. The marbling, or intramuscular fat, contributes to the rich flavor and juiciness of the steak. The cut is taken from the rib primal, and the ribeye muscle is left attached to the rib bone.

Tomahawk steaks are typically larger than regular ribeye steaks, often weighing between 2 to 2.5 pounds or even more. The long bone adds to the overall size and weight. The long frenched bone gives the steak a dramatic and visually striking appearance, resembling a tomahawk axe. This presentation makes it a popular choice for special occasions or upscale dining. Many people prefer medium-rare to medium for ribeye steaks to preserve the tenderness and flavor.

The sheer size of this cut of meat made me think of a meme that picks on vegans. I’m sure friends and family who are not meat eaters will be a little unhappy with me for this.

Let’s start cooking

A lot of times with TnF Farms cooking-themed posts, we try and do a meal for two for less than $30. When a Tomahawk is in the equation, the math just doesn’t work. So I’m going all in for this meal. Tonight, I’m going to change it up. I’ll sear my Tomahawk on the griddle then finish it in my smoker. I start both to get the heat up so they’re ready for the meat.

Let’s start with this cut of meat. I typically give all my beef cuts a massage of olive oil and add some seasoning. I’m going light with Montreal seasoning.

   

The griddle is set to medium and gently place my Tomahawk steak in the middle and give it 5 minutes on each side.

   

The smoker is set to low and I’m using a pellet blend that is good for all meats. I’ve never cooked a piece of meat like this before. I’ll be experimenting with cook time as I eat my way through this. I don’t want to overcook it and ruin a beautiful steak. I’m going to err on the side of undercooking and also try to avoid a steak that is raw in the middle. I’m shooting for a rare to medium-rare.

Since this is a splurge meal, I will have a side of mushrooms, onions, and fire-roasted Brussel sprouts and peppers. As the time on the smoker was running out, I fired up an iron skillet with the vegetables with some olive oil.

Let’s eat

I’m plated up. This is a larger plate than what is normally used for a typical meal. This steak is huge and cooking this was a first. I ended up having my steak spending a little more time on the griddle set to low after I ate some of the edges. To complete the meal, I had a bourbon on the rocks and a cigar. After this big of a meal, tomorrow is going to involve some fasting.

I have an uncle coming to visit and I told him about having access to Tomahawk steaks. He’s looking forward to us having dueling Tomahawks sometime in the spring. Since this was the first time, I need to look up some recipes and maybe do some further experimentation with cooking temps and times. I’ll need to make sure I have these down before I go serving them to a guest and then have to take the meat back to the griddle.